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Mossy Questions

0

Hi, everybody.

I am wanting to add some moss to my fish tank next remodel. It will be attached to rocks, climbing over a stone wall to give it a more natural/ancient look. My tank has low-to-medium light, gravel over dirt substrate, medium-heavily stocked (around 90-105% on aqadvisor). No CO2 or ferts except what the fish/substrate provide. Lots of rooted (dwarf lillies, rotalla, various crypts, Aponogeton) and floating plants (hornwort, dwarf water lettuce) that are growing and seem to be thriving.

I have never grown mosses before, so if anyone can point me to an overview, I'd appreciate it. I also have the following specific questions:

1. I've gotten the idea that some (many? all?) mosses require high light. Is this true? Which one(s) can grow in low-to-medium?

2. Price is always an issue for me. Which moss gives you the most bang for the buck? Java moss seems cheapest, but I would be willing to consider, for example, ones that are slightly more pricey but spread faster. Things like that.

3. How do mosses stand up to nibbling? Any that are tougher/less edible? My tank might acquire a black moor goldfish at some point, so it might become an issue.

4. Which species are easiest/hardest to grow?

5. Perhaps most importantly, which ones do you find the most beautiful?

6. Anything else I need to know? Any newby pitfalls to avoid?

Thanks, as always!

Tom

Do not rejoice over me yet, o my enemy, for even if I fall, I will rise again. Even when I dwell in darkness, the Lord will be my light. Micah 7:8

Ok, all I've kept is Java Moss so I can tell you about that. It doesn't need high light to grow, it will do just fine in a lower light tank. With that said it will stay more compact under high lights. Now just some general stuff about planting with moss. You want to get a lot of it to start out with. I would get a big handful of free floating java moss from my LFS and wrapped it thickly around some driftwood. Tied it down with cotton thread. You want to tie down as much as possible, the more contact with the wood or stone the more attached it will become. Use cotton thread because it will dissolve and you don't have to go back and disturb the moss. Mosses grow slowly or so I've read (my java does). So I usually get as much as I want to cover a space and then just trim with some small fingernail scissors. If you order online ask how the moss will be sent to you. I don't like the stuff that comes attached to a mat, it looks ugly for a while and you can't put it on anything but a flat surface. Plus you won't get enough on a mat to do you much good. Trim it regularly will help it stay low and thick.

If you've not had moss before I'd recommend starting out with java moss. It is by far the easiest to grow and will adapt to a wide range of lighting conditions - heck, I've grown it in a bowl on the windowsill.

Tie it to wood or rockwork with dark cotton thread. Spread it thinly, but evenly, over what you want it to grow. If you tie it too thickly it will go brown underneath and rot (if your tank is small you REALLY don't want this to happen). Also, don't just tie it in a big, thick clump and expect it to spread - it'll likely just grow fronds outwards into the water column rather than spread over the hardscape. I've made these mistakes.

Tips?
- Use a pipette or turkey baster (depends on the size of your tank of course) to blow debris from the moss every few days. It will catch stuff that floats around your tank which can be a pain if your filter doesn't polish the water.
- Trim moss with your filter OFF and BEFORE a water change. It's not like other plants where all the trimmings helpfully float to the surface to be skimmed out with a net. Moss trimmings will sink. It's annoying so either trim with both hands in the tank (one hand holding the long pieces you want to trim off, the other hand with the nail scissors) so you can remove everything you trim away, OR do all your trimming and then use a siphon to hoover it all up from the bottom.
- Moss will die quickly if it's too warm. I lost nearly all of mine in a heatwave where the temperature peaked in the mid-eighties. It will go brown and shrivel and anything left alive will take a while to bounce back.

I am wanting to add some moss to my fish tank next remodel. It will be attached to rocks, climbing over a stone wall to give it a more natural/ancient look. My tank has low-to-medium light, gravel over dirt substrate, medium-heavily stocked (around 90-105% on aqadvisor). No CO2 or ferts except what the fish/substrate provide. Lots of rooted (dwarf lillies, rotalla, various crypts, Aponogeton) and floating plants (hornwort, dwarf water lettuce) that are growing and seem to be thriving.

I have never grown mosses before, so if anyone can point me to an overview, I'd appreciate it. I also have the following specific questions:

1. I've gotten the idea that some (many? all?) mosses require high light. Is this true? Which one(s) can grow in low-to-medium?

Java moss is ok in low to medium as well. Sticks well too.

2. Price is always an issue for me. Which moss gives you the most bang for the buck? Java moss seems cheapest, but I would be willing to consider, for example, ones that are slightly more pricey but spread faster. Things like that.

Monosolenium tenerum, one of the liverworths is also worth considering.

3. How do mosses stand up to nibbling? Any that are tougher/less edible? My tank might acquire a black moor goldfish at some point, so it might become an issue.

Badly But so would many of your other plants.

4. Which species are easiest/hardest to grow?

Java moss is impossible not to grow.

5. Perhaps most importantly, which ones do you find the most beautiful?

Phoenix moss, especially hanging down from a tree.

6. Anything else I need to know? Any newby pitfalls to avoid?

Thanks, as always!

Tom

Overthinking. Na, seriously, start with java moss, tie it down and see what happens. Next easiest is riccie. Get some plastic netting and cover a few stones. Trim every week or so once it takes.